The Biggest little Festival of the World! 13th anniversary Feb 21 - 24, 2019
BJBF Newsletter June 2018
Hi again, all you jazzin' & bluesin' babies out there, we know we've left you waiting quite a bit for news about next year's festivaland we're sorry for that. However, we haven't been sitting idle. We're aware that expectations are high after the most fantastic festival of music and the arts that we were able to present to you this year, and we've been working hard to make the 2019 festival even better.
So, what's the buzz about BMAF 2019?
Back to the roots Due to circumstances beyond our control the Boquete fairgrounds will not be available for the 2019 festival, regardless of dates. Panama will be in a cycle of local and nationwide elections in 2019 and this seems to be the reason for this restriction.
Therefore, we decided to take the festival back to where it started, to the beautiful replica of a Greek-style amphitheater in Valle Escondido (The hidden valley), Boquete's most upscale residential development. With a capacity of 800 seats the venue is smaller than the fairgrounds, and it offers only one stage instead of two but everybody who has ever enjoyed the festival therewill tell you that it is one of the most beautiful places in the area with great acoustics, just perfect for an intimate music festival. To provide comfortable conditions and protect against the tropical sun most of the seating area will be covered by sun sails.
The festival format At this time we're still in an early planning stage to adapt the format to the change of venue, so the following information is subject to change. We are planning four great shows each on both days of the weekend, Feb. 23 and 24 plus our traditional garden party on Friday, Feb. 22. You may also look forward to several of our famous nightly jam sessions at various venues in town. Just like before we'll also have great art exhibitions to enjoy again and we're working on some additional exciting goodies, so stay tuned!
The 2019 line-up The 2018 line-up was truly exceptional. Kudos again to festival co-producer Deanna Bogart, who put it all together! Deanna is already working on another fantastic edition together with Lance Anderson, so the two of them will naturally be performing again. So far Joe Luis Walker and Matt Scofield, the Rigoberto Coba Big Band and Panama's John Carney&friends have been confirmed for 2019. At this time it is still a work in progress but you surely may expect some pleasant surprises!
Festival tickets Ticket prices and start of sales will be published on our website, our facebook page and via this newsletter as soon as possible. We're hoping to be ready to start selling tickets later this month or in August. As before, tickets will be available for purchase online only.
Memories are made of this! For those of our readers who had the bad luck to miss the 2018 festival, and for those who were there but want to re-live the excitement, here are two links to our video and photo archives. Check them out and enjoy!
Boquete hopes to see you at the festival in 2019! Panama is the place to be in February! Give the snow&cold a break and come down to the valley of eternal spring with temperatures of around 80 F and two oceans nearby. You won't regret it!
We can't wait to see you here in our beautiful little town of Boquete in the Chiriqui highlands! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us via the email address stated below or via the contact forms on our website which you will reach by clicking here.
In order to stay in the loop you may also consider to follow us on our facebook page or join our facebook group.
